


As He Sleeps

by poisonous_panda



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-17
Updated: 2017-04-17
Packaged: 2018-10-20 04:18:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10654755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poisonous_panda/pseuds/poisonous_panda
Summary: Watching him sleep, you can't help but notice how Ardyn's slowly changing every time he sneaks back to see you after fulfilling each healing mission. Also, I have a freckle under the same eye he does so it got it's own special mention here lol





	As He Sleeps

He always came under the cover of night.

No matter how far he travelled on his mission, he always returned to you despite your protests.

Couldn’t be away from you for too long, was his reasoning. And besides, where was the harm as long as he resumed his duty?

From a relaxed, cocky 20-something that you met him as, to the mature yet overly confident 40-something, you had always admired the way Ardyn sauntered through life. You knew each other almost better than you knew yourselves. Then the day came he was Chosen to help purge the world. You were so proud, and he was estatic to help his people, but only as long as he could return to you. Even if it was only for nightly activities nobody else could know about. Your mind recalls all those stolen nights - the tenderness, the excitement and the passion. Despite being together for years, his touch and scent had still set your nerves on fire.

But you had noticed that each time he came back, he was less and less like the man you were married to. He was more emotionally distant, the sex was rougher and nastier. Where had your man gone? The one with the ever-present smile? It was now replaced with a permanent smirk. The man whose warm touch could soothe your mind? Now his touch was ice-cold and demanding.

As you stare at his sleeping face as he lies on his back, these thoughts run their course. Nowadays he only looked peaceful in sleep and you could almost pretend he was the same. But he wasn’t. It’s not that you loved him any less, it’s that you just knew things could not remain as they were. Whatever he sees on his travels, whatever he experiences, it is changing him.

Your heart doesn’t flutter when he steals into your room having glided through the night unnoticed anymore. The heat from his body no longer warms your soul and his kisses no longer carried that resounding love that needed no words. For lack of a better word, he seemed to be turning into an animal.

Ardyn grunts lightly, turning his head towards you as you lay on your stomach surveying him, his eyelids remaining closed, his thickset eyebrows knit together in a frown. He always looks older when he frowns. Your eyes trace the wrinkles this causes above the bridge of his nose and how the corners of his eyes crinkle. What was he seeing behind those eyelids? You miss his brilliant yellow irises; once upon a time they shone as warmly as the stars above, yet now whenever he looks at you they’re as hard and cold as gold. It’s getting harder and harder to maintain eye contact with him on his unsanctioned visits.

His lips are twitching now and his hands are clenching and unclenching the bedsheets. Raising your hand, you lightly place it on top of one of his larger, calloused ones. His sword-fighting hand. You rub your thumb in circles over one of his callouses, noting how it is harder than it used to be. Even when he would run his hands over your body before his mission began, those callouses never hurt, they just added another dimension to the sensual overload he would lovingly bombard you with. Yet now they only served to scrape at your skin and stubbornly interrupt your thoughts whenever you tried to enjoy his touch.

Despite no longer being in his prime those lips are still young and plump. The auburn stubble peppering the lower portion of his face made his strong jawline appear more regal - after all he was of royal blood. He never did like to be clean-shaven, thought it made him appear too young, too boyish, and therefore not one worthy of being taken seriously. It used to lightly graze you when he kissed you wherever he wished, making your skin sensitive under his touch. But now even that had lost its soft playfulness; the hair seemed to be replaced with tiny thorns, pricking and scratching your skin whenever he got ahold of you. 

He lets out a small groan, almost like he’s in pain. Moonlight filters through the crack in your curtains, making his face appear more sallow and feverish. The light was casting shadows on his face, making the wrinkles of his skin seem deeper, more tired and also somehow more…. sinister?

What was he seeing?

You pull the covers off him as he starts to sweat, clearly in the grip of some mild nightmare. All he is wearing is some black silky boxer shorts to cover his modesty. There’s a few scratches and bruises on him - must be from his travels - and the hair lightly showing across his chest and lower abdomen is longer. You spot a few white ones, he will be mortified once that sprouts in his stubble and head hair… Or would he? The old Ardyn would, your sweetheart always was a little vain. But he IS royalty, always is in the public eye. What of this new man? Does he even notice?

He is not the most muscular of men, but age will do that to you. He had incredible abs and biceps when you were both younger, but some of the ‘middle-aged spread’ had got him. Yet it just served to make him seem more endearing and experienced. Your eyes travel back up from his navel to his face; he has relaxed now and his features have settled.

Your eyes stop at the small dark freckle underneath his left eye, one in exactly the same place you have one. You both used to say it marked you as each other’s soulmates. Yet now, with Ardyn’s new behaviour and how his (usually) playful yet formal manner of speaking had taken a darker, more sardonic twist, those silly musings you shared felt…. childish. Meaningless.

Ardyn is laying right next to you, yet there’s barely any warmth from him anymore - both physically and emotionally. How can two lovers be so close and yet feel so apart? Well… ‘lovers’ is probably not the right word anymore. Sometimes he barely even speaks to you when he visits, he just strips you bare before fucking you. No longer could you coin what you do together as ‘making love’. There’s no more caresses, barely any more kisses, no more sweet nothings whispered into your ear as Ardyn used to love doing.

At first you didn’t mind. After all, what with the divine duty the Six had bestowed upon him, the poor soul was probably aching for a release. And at least he would still travel back to you. The Saviour, the Healer…. well, it doesn’t take a genius to know that there’s men and women from around the world who would gladly kneel before him. Yet he would always come back to you. That had to count for something… right?

Ardyn has started shivering lightly so you replace the sheets on top of him. As his body adjusts to the new warmth enveloping him he turns on his side and faces away from you. Despite having him here your heart feels hollow. It’s the same man, but everything is different. Maybe things will get better once his divine duty is fulfilled.

Only half believing this comforting thought, you turn away from him onto your own side and try once again to sleep, ignoring the dark sense of loss spreading from the pit of your stomach.


End file.
